Gracie found a little quiet time during the pre-Christmas craziness, to curl up with a good book. There’s some thing about the ambient light that the Christmas tree adds to a room that I really enjoy his time of year.

Coming home from a shift at the Fire Department, the sunrise was especially exhilarating and inspiring. A simple image of Fall’s beauty and grace.

Today, my philanthropic daughter delivered a cashier’s check for the total of all the donations she received for her Christmas ornament project. Her original goal was to raise $100, by selling 50 ornaments. She smashed that goal and raised $431.38. Her younger sister donated what she could from her piggy bank, pushing the total over the $431 mark.

My oldest daughter is creating “old fashioned ribbon candy” Christmas tree ornaments. She has a wonderful caring heart. Her goal is to make a whole bunch of these ornaments and sell them for $2.00 each. She will be donating 100% of the proceeds to the Children’s Miracle Network. She would like to help with children’s cancer research. I’m helping her effort by making an informational flier for her philanthropic endeavor. I am continually flabbergasted by the thoughtfulness of my kids.

Our youngest attended a birthday party sleepover this past weekend, and created this little guy at the party. The clay is sort of a foamy type modeling material. The plastic feet base came with the kit. Totally cool. I have never seen anything like it. Great work kiddo!

We had a quick rain shower roll through earlier tonight. This double rainbow lasted for about 10 minutes. Luckily, I was able to capture it. Looks like the pot-o-gold can be found at our neighbors’.

My wife is a wonderful pianist. Every so often she treats me to a little music. Tonight she played some Billy Joel while I enjoyed a glass of wine.

This is a photo of my youngest daughter quietly, contentedly reading to herself. I was sitting next to her on the couch as she read, enjoying the sight of her in such a relaxed state of mind. It inspired me to pick up my camera, and get back into the mindset that even the small things are worth stopping for and taking notice.

Interesting… As I looked out our dining room window this evening, I see the warmth of the sunset. If you didn’t know better, you could imagine this sunset at a warm beach.Yet, I know the cold Winter wind is howling out in the field. And a couple hours after this photo was taken, as I write this post I peer out my office window and see our neighbor plowing snow in his driveway. I guess after months of cold weather my mind is on a warm beach somewhere.

The four highest points in the small town of Tea, South Dakota. From left to right in the photo are: The grain elevator, the older water tower, the large water tower, and the new radio tower.

The fog yesterday hasn’t really burned off. Fog is supposed to be a pre-indicator of heavy precipitation. If so, we may see a very white Christmas this year.

Even though the place is open, and I’m sure it a hot, happening joint I found the empty street an interesting contrast to the “Open” invitation.

These gals are ever vigilantly watching over the streets of downtown, waiting. Patiently waiting. You might say they have a certain “State” of mind in this photo.

My youngest daughter drew this about 2 years ago, inside one of my note pads. I just ran across it again. I know that as a dad with two girls, I am in for a heaping helping of teenage girl emotions ahead of me. I hope that as they get into those awkward years, they remember how they saw themselves when they were 5.

Had a lunch meeting today, and on my way back to my car, I passed by this set of chairs on the patio area of the restaurant I was at. The negative space aspect of this photo intrigues me. Instead of seeing the actual subject matter (people at a table) you only see their shadows.

On our last night at Cedar Shore Resort, I found this moon over the boats at the dock inspiring.

We stayed at Cedar Shore Resort in Chamberlain, SD for the Independence Day holiday weekend. We drove there Friday morning, hoping for a day of fun and sun on the boat. Instead we had a gloomy, rainy day. This photo of Gracie looking out the window of our room at the wet, dreary day says it all. View Post

Words cannot describe how sad losing a 10-day old baby must be. To my friend, we are praying for you. The sunset today made me stop and think for a good long time. I hope and pray that God be with you, and that your little girl be with Him in heaven.

Last night’s sunset was affected by severe thumderstorms north of us, near Brookings. The colors and cloud formations are pretty impressive.

Civil War cannon at the South Dakota National Guard Museum in Pierre, SD.

On my way home from Rapid City, I stopped for fuel and a quick break in Chamberlain, SD. These guys were standing in a pasture right behind the gas station. I barely gave them a second thought, as I was in a hurry to get home. But as I was pumping gas, they kept staring at me as though they knew I had a camera in the car, and were begging to have their picture taken. Fine guys. Here you go. You are on the web. The next time you’re surfing the web, stop by this blog and let me know what you think.

This is a view looking down from the 8th floor of the Holiday Inn Rapid City. I was out there for State Fire School this past weekend. I like the geometry and repeating pattern of the floor from this angle.

Central Florida has some of the biggest grasshoppers I’ve ever seen. They are literally 4 or 5 inches long! Come to think of it… We were staying on a military-only resort. Maybe they’re secretly testing out a new form of advanced robotic weaponry. Hmmm….

Air. You’ll notice that it’s not free here.

This old barn has been sitting on the North end of Tea for years, slowly decaying. This is the end of it’s time, as well as the end of the day.

I was so inspired by the gold reflective grid pattern, that I took it one step further.

Yesterday’s photo contrasted the flat lines of the roof with the soft, billowy clouds. Today, we see a flat-bottomed cloud contrasting with a curved roofline.

These old guys still have some kick, some get-up-and-go, some oomph.

I’ll be the first to admit that I know very little about antiques… But I found this oddity at a local antique shop.

Motion, light, beauty and grace.

This is a unique view of a lamp in the office. From this view it seems as though the light bulbs are in the wrong place.

A 30 second glimpse of time can reveal a lot. This image was shot using a 30 second exposure and a red L.E.D.

Thanks to my buddy Craig for inspiring this one. There are a few ideas yet to explore here. I’ll probably be posting more of these sparkler shots in the near future.

Really nice lines and curves in this little antique toy push car, with an absolutely stunning red paint job! Go Speed racer!

I hit my head on this garage door motor every time I come near it. Like the fan in the studio, I think it just wants a little attention. Well, here you are, Mr. Motor. You are now famous. Now stop whacking me in the head, and leave me alone.

The rotation of the earth around the sun provides such unique lighting opportunities. Throughout the day, the shadows falling on this wall will change. By the time I got the raw photos downloaded and this blog post written, the shadows captured on the wall will have changed. The composition of the shadows on the wall, and the amount of light in the sky is a dynamic scene. A moment in time that will never be seen again. No matter how mundane the actual content in a scene, there’s always something deeper to be found.

Sometimes the things that sit right in front of your face nearly every day, have hidden beauty.

Mmmmmm, apples for breakfast. These guys seem to be waiting for their turn. They watch over their fallen comrades with honor.

I walk by this fan every morning as I walk into the studio. But today, I nearly tripped over it on my way into the office. It made me think that perhaps it was calling out to me to be noticed.